The Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Tour will be making it’s final stop of the season in Abu Dhabi on May 12th, 2024, and we’ve put together a preview of all of the men’s black belt divisions and women’s combined black and brown belt divisions. As always there’s a mixture of top-ranked veteran competitors and top young prospects, some of whom have already enjoyed a lot of success on the AJP Tour circuit this year. Each division is difficult to predict due to the depth of talent in them, particular in the female brackets where brown belt competitors are also included. There are top contenders in each division who are expected to come away with their respective titles, but there will undoubtedly be plenty of surprises along the way.
Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Tour – Abu Dhabi 2024 Full Preview
Men’s Black Belt Divisions
Light-Featherweight – Under 52kg
Favorites – This is the smallest men’s division in this preview of the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Tour – Abu Dhabi 2024, and Welison Fernandes stands out as the top contender in it. Zayed Alkatheeri is also a big name in the bracket and it’s hard to imagine anyone other than him and Fernandes standing on top of the podium once the event is over.
Dark Horse – With just 9 men in the bracket there isn’t much room for surprises, but Kalel Santos should be able to go pretty far. It’ll be tough for him to beat both Alkatheeri and Fernandes, but he probably has the best chance out of anyone else in the division.
Featherweight – Under 62kg
Favorites – Yuri Hendrex is the reigning Abu Dhabi World Pro champion from 2023 and he’s going to be really tough to beat for anyone, even though he’s moved up in weight since winning that title. His biggest opposition out of the other 13 competitors is probably Khaled Alshehhi, who is actually the reigning champion of the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam event in Abu Dhabi and holds a win over Hendrex from earlier this year.
Dark Horse – Jefferson Fagundes actually stands a great chance of making it to the podium, but he’s lost two matches to Alshehhi recently and that’s a big challenge he will need to overcome if he wants to win the division.
Lightweight – Under 69kg
Favorites – Even though this is a huge division with 25 competitors, the clear favorite is Diego ‘Pato’ Oliveira and it’s hard to imagine anyone else standing on top of the podium. Thiago Macedo has managed to give him some tough matches in the past but he’s never actually won one, and Oliveira holds a perfect 4-0 record against him. Macedo is still the most likely person to stop Oliveira, but that just shows how much of a heavy favorite he is.
Dark Horse – Matheus Onda has his work cut out for him here and he’ll have to avenge a loss to Oliveira if he wants to win this division. He’s definitely capable of beating Macedo though at the very least, so it wouldn’t be too surprising to see him earn a silver medal depending on how the bracket unfolds.
Welterweight – Under 77kg
Favorites – The welterweight division has 29 competitors in it and is one of the most unpredictable as a result, with plenty of room for surprises in each round. There’s quite a few contenders who could feasibly win the title if things go their way, but Luiz Paulo and Lucas Protasio are the two men who will need the least luck to do so. They’re both at the very top of the sport right now and the most likely outcome is here is that they meet in the final for an epic rematch of their semi-final battle at Brasileiro last month.
Dark Horse – Andre Cantanhede has lost multiple matches to both Paulo and Protasio, but has managed to beat Protasio once before. He probably gets through most of the rest of the field without much opposition, but it’s going to take a flawless performance for him to beat both of them.
Middleweight – Under 85kg
Favorites – Uanderson Ferreira is coming into this tournament off the biggest win of his career at BJJ Stars 12 and it’ll be interesting to see if he can use that momentum to run through this division. It won’t be easy though and even though he’s one of the favorites, Lucas Giraud is another big name who will be tough to beat. Ferreira submitted Giraud twice in 2022 and would have been the clear favorite in a direct matchup, but Giraud turned the tables with a submission win of his own just a few months ago. Ferreira should still be considered the favorite to win the middleweight division but Giraud has shown that he shouldn’t be overlooked either.
Dark Horse – Ferreira and Giraud are the two top contenders out of this 21-man bracket but Pedro Silva definitely has what it takes to cause an upset if he can put it all together on the day. He’s been a black belt for less than a year but he’s already shown a ton of promise and he could make a big impact here.
Light-Heavyweight – Under 94kg
Favorites – Marcos Carrozzino is the reigning champion here and the bronze medalist from the Abu Dhabi World Pro last year too, so he’s a real top contender to win this division. He faces a potential rematch if he wants to do that though, and Henrique Betta is not someone that should be taken lightly. Betta has gone from strength to strength lately and he beat Carrozzino on points to win the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam – Rome earlier this year, so he might be able to do the same again.
Dark Horse – Catriel Rodrigues is a top competitor in his own right and he shouldn’t be counted out, even if he does have a pair of losses to Carrozzino already. While that rematch is going to be hard enough as it is, the presence of Betta makes this division very challenging indeed.
Super-Heavyweight – Under 120kg
Favorites – The super-heavyweight division is a tough one to predict, and not just because there’s 22 grapplers competing for the title here. The main problem is that the two top contenders have had a fierce rivalry over the last few years and it’s impossible to know who will come out on top when they meet again. Felipe Bezerra might be leading the series against Yatan Bueno 3-1, but they have had some really close battles with only one ending in submission and either man could leave Abu Dhabi as the champion.
Dark Horse – It’s almost a certainty that either Bezerra or Bueno will win the division, but Vladimir Blium is going to be one to watch as the bracket progresses. A win against either of them would be a huge achievement, but Blium should be able to leave with a bronze medal at least.
Women’s Brown And Black Belt Divisions
Roosterweight – Under 49kg
Favorites – Brenda Larissa is coming into the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam – Abu Dhabi 2024 with a ton of momentum after a string of good performances this year already, so she’s one of the favorites in this preview. She actually beat the other favorite, Diana Teixeira, in the final of this division in Rome and currently holds a 4-0 record against her so unless something unexpected happens, Larissa should be able to come out on top again.
Dark Horse – Margarita Ochoa is a talented ATOS black belt and she will give anyone a tough match, so she might spring a surprise in this tournament. It isn’t likely of course, with both Larissa and Teixeira being the favorites for a very good reason.
Light-Featherweight – Under 55kg
Favorites – Alexa Yanes is a very familiar face on the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Tour and she competes very often under this ruleset, regularly featuring on the podium. Yanes is definitely the favorite but talented brown belt Beatriz Campos has made a big impact recently and at just 21 years old, she’s already beaten some seriously well-respected black belts. Although Yanes should have the upper hand here, it wouldn’t be all that surprising to see Campos standing on top of the podium instead.
Dark Horse – Randryely Souza is another brown belt who’s gotten some big wins on the AJP Tour circuit lately and although she hasn’t won as many medals at this level as Campos, she does already hold a win over Yanes and will definitely be one to watch here.
Lightweight – Under 62kg
Favorites – Julia Alves is one of the most fierce competitors on the AJP Tour circuit and she’s beaten pretty much everyone she can possibly beat in this division in the past. Although Alves is still one of the favorites thanks to past performances, she’s had a really tough time dealing with Maria Delahaye lately and actually has a 1-2 record against her this year. With just 13 women in the bracket there’s a very good chance they cross paths again and it’s not impossible for Delahaye to make it 3-1 on her way to a gold medal.
Dark Horse – Gabi Schuck is a great competitor and she’s still young at just 23 years old, so she’s still improving with every passing year. She might not be able to win the whole division but she should be able to give a good account of herself even against the top contenders.
Middleweight – Under 70kg
Favorites – There’s only 6 women competing at middleweight but all of the focus is going to be on 2 women in particular, as Ingridd Alves and Izadora Silva are on track to display the next stage in their epic rivalry. The series between them currently stands at 3-3 so it’ll be very interesting to see who gets the upper hand next, particularly because Alves has won both of their last meetings. Alves also has the only submission win so she does come out as the slight favorite head-to-head, but anything can happen on the day.
Dark Horse – Although the most likely outcome is that Alves and Silva meet in the final match, Magdalena Loska is going to do everything she can to throw a spanner in the works. Loska might end up having to settle for a bronze medal, but the veteran competitor will still give either woman a tough match along the way.
Heavyweight – Under 95kg
Favorites – Yara Soares is the probably the biggest favorite of the entire tournament as she very rarely loses to anyone other than the most successful female grappler on the planet; Gabrieli Pessanha. There isn’t anyone who is likely to beat Soares without Pessanha present and the only woman who might be able to challenge her is Maria Vicentini, although Soares already holds 2 wins over her.
Dark Horse – Isabely Lemos is a 20 year-old brown belt representing GF Team and she is definitely going to be a top competitor in years to come. She’s already faced Soares twice this year and lost both though, so she might have to settle for a silver or bronze medal here.
The full lineup for every division in this preview of the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Tour – Abu Dhabi 2024 can be found here.
